Weekend Lookbook :: Hanging Out in NYC

January 30, 2017

Weekend Lookbook :: Hanging Out in NYC

We haven’t done a weekend lookbook in awhile what with the holidays and end of the year craziness . . . but during our hiatus, I stumbled upon a new online store called, ShopTobi.com – ya’ll know I love to mix high and low!

Look No. 1 – Caviar Kaspia

I love New York! Let me just say it again, I LOVE New York! I’m lucky enough to live and work in downtown Manhattan in a neighborhood called TriBeCa (short for the Triangle Below Canal street). It’s a great neighborhood with all sorts of hip coffee shops, cool loft apartments and apparently a lot of secret spots that only those in “the know” know about.

So, we got a call from some friends who live in Westchester inviting us to meet them for dinner at a pop-up restaurant in our neighborhood. Now, I generally think I’m in the know on these things, but I had no idea what they were referring too. So, I turned to my old friend, Google and learned that Caviar Kaspia is hot restaurant in Paris that is currently poppin-up, you guessed it in my ‘hood. Now, what makes this even more remarkable, is that the pop-up is housed in a private club for artists and entrepreneurs called Spring that I swear I walk past at least 3 times a week …… It’s a hidden gem, you wouldn’t know to look for it unless someone told you to, but that’s the beauty of it, right?

Needless to say, it was one of those debauched New York nights where you mix good friends + alcohol + a swanky spot and that’s all she wrote! Such a great night. New York, I LOVE you.

Look No. 2 – Yoga

I’ve been doing yoga every week for almost a year now. I made a commitment to myself in 2016 to fully embrace yoga and all that it has to offer. What I’ve learned over the course of this past year is that I need yoga in my life. Taking at least one hour a week to turn my mind off and focus on nothing but my breathing and getting in and out of difficult poses has been amazing. Don’t get me wrong, yoga looks “easy” for the uninitiated, but yoga is hard and requires physical strength as well as mental strength. I’ve been doing Vinyasa Yoga which is a flowing, dynamic sequence of poses that is one of the most popular styles of yoga in the United States; it’s also sometimes called “Vinyasa Flow Yoga,” and it involves synchronizing the breath with a continuous flow of postures. I am by no means a yoga expert and sometimes in class I find myself cracking up at my inability to stabilize and hold a pose, but I keep going back because I think I’m just a little bit addicted. Oh, and I love all of the super cute workout gear and athleisure on the market now – I can run around the neighborhood in my workout clothes and fit right in with all of the other well-dressed workout fanatics.

Look No. 3 – Drinks With The Girls

At the top of each year, I adopt a goal that I would like to achieve or put into practice. Last year it was making yoga a regular part of my life. This year, it’s reconnecting with friends. Running a business like effie’s paper is fun, but it’s also a lot of hard work and long hours. I am the BIG boss. Everyone is coming to me for answers – my girls, my customers, my vendors, my collaborators, my retailers and the list goes on. I’m not complaining, but it often means that other parts of my life don’t get my full attention. We’re all busy and New Yorkers, rightly or wrongly, think they’re busier than most. It’s sad, but it’s easy not to see you’re truly good friends for months at a time. Not because you don’t want to, but because the days and weeks fly by … I’ve learned you have to be very deliberate about making time for what’s important to you. So, I’m working on reconnecting in meaningful ways with my friends. It was so awesome to get together with a few my girlfriends over the weekend and catch up on everything from our jobs, spouses, kids, families and just life. These are the memories I will always cherish.